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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 28, 2026

Measuring Spatially- and Directionally-varying Light Scattering from Biological Material

Measuring Spatially- and Directionally-varying Light Scattering from Biological Material

Published on: May 20, 2013

Spatially modulated structural colour in bird feathers.

Andrew J Parnell¹, Adam L Washington^1,2, Oleksandr O Mykhaylyk³

¹Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Sheffield, S3 7RH, UK.

Scientific Reports

|December 22, 2015

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Eurasian Jay feathers show color variations due to nanostructure size, controlled by spinodal phase separation. This process influences UV to blue reflectance, with larger structures producing white color.

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Area of Science:

Biophysics
Materials Science
Avian Biology

Background:

Feathers of the Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius) exhibit a spectrum of colors, ranging from white to black, including various shades of blue.
These structural colors are produced by nanostructures within the feather barbs, influencing light reflection.
Understanding the formation and control of these nanostructures is key to explaining feather coloration.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between feather nanostructure and reflected color in Eurasian Jays.
To determine the role of spinodal phase separation in controlling nanostructure size and spatial distribution.
To elucidate the mechanism by which feather nanostructure size is modulated to produce different colors.

Main Methods:

Analysis of feather barb nanostructures using electron microscopy and optical measurements.
Characterization of spinodal morphology and lengthscales in different colored regions.
Dynamic scaling analysis of scattering data from single feather barbs.

Main Results:

Feather colors are determined by continuous variations in nanostructure size, spatially controlled by spinodal phase separation.
Blue regions exhibit a characteristic spinodal morphology with a 150 nm lengthscale, reflecting UV to blue wavelengths.
White regions show larger (200 nm) nanostructures, resulting from further coarsening and broader white reflectance.

Conclusions:

Nanostructure formation in Eurasian Jay feathers is governed by controlling the phase separation time of the keratin network.
The arrest mechanism for phase separation is rapid and distinct from the spinodal process itself.
The observed color gradient arises from a coarsening process that initially spans UV and blue wavelengths before broadening.